Japan mourns victims of 2011 earthquake — in pictures

People in Japan observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. (0546 UTC) on Thursday, like these participants in a memorial service at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. The silence coincided with the exact time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, triggering the deadly tsunami.

Buddhist monks joined in memorial services. In Fukushima prefecture's Hisanohama, a group of locals gathered by the shore, where a line of Buddhist monks marched past beating drums and chanting prayers. A siren marked the start of the minute's silence.

Many people in northeastern Japan walked to the coast or visited graves to pray for relatives and friends washed away by the tsunami. Some carried bouquets to put on graves or place by the ocean.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended a memorial in Tokyo. The annual memorial event was held before a smaller audience than usual, with the capital and nearby areas currently under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Local residents stand on the seashore at sunrise at Arahama district in Sendai, northeastern Japan to remember the tsunami. Around 400 kilometers of the country's northeastern coastline was hit by the huge wave.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba staged a candlelit vigil a day earlier. The tsunami waves, which reached up to 40.5 meters (132.9 feet) high, caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.